Proteas out to finish on a high

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Cape Town - The Proteas will be
hoping to close off the South African summer on a high when they take on
Australia in the third KFC T20 International at PPC Newlands on Wednesday.

The
series-decider marks the end of a see-saw home season for the Proteas and a win
will round off a successful limited-overs campaign after the series wins
against England.

Proteas opening batsman,
Quinton de Kock, says the squad is motivated to finish the season with a
confident win and some momentum to take on to the ICC World T20 in India.

“We want to win,” he said to
the media in Cape Town on Tuesday.

“A series win against Australia doesn’t come
easily, to win against them would be great. There is a bigger picture with the
World Cup coming up in India and the conditions will be different, but we want
to finish off well.”

De Kock missed the series
against England due to a knee injury, and stamped his return to the side with a
28-ball 44 in the five-wicket loss at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.
He has shared the opening role with AB de Villiers this series but says he is
happy to bat where the team needs him should he be moved down the order.

“I haven’t batted down the
order in a while,” he said. “If I were to move I would assess the situation and
make sure that the strike-rate is at 100 percent. Normally that is how
finishers go about their strategy, if it comes my way I will try and get the
job done.

“There isn’t any
competition,” he said when asked about Hashim Amla.

“Whoever gets into the
position will do the best that is needed for the team. We want to try and win a
world cup, there isn’t any competition, we both just want what is best for the
team.”

The match is also the last
opportunity for the management to try out other potential combinations, which
could see the return of Hashim Amla, who has yet to get a game this series. The
sold-out signs at Newlands went up days ago,
giving local fans an opportunity to give the team a memorable send-off before
they head to India on Thursday morning.

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